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M4A to FLAC converter

Convert M4A to FLAC in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.

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Related conversions

Need it the other way round? Convert FLAC to M4A

Other ways to convert M4A

Convert other formats to FLAC

Read more about the M4A format and the FLAC format, or see every audio tool and all audio conversions.

Should you convert M4A to FLAC?

You want an open lossless archive of Apple Lossless (ALAC) M4A files, or FLAC for a player that prefers it.

Only when software insists on FLAC. It stores the decoded M4A perfectly, but the detail the M4A discarded is already gone, so the FLAC is bigger without sounding better.

M4A is AAC audio in an MP4 container, Apple’s everyday audio format; FLAC is lossless audio at roughly half the size of WAV. Use FLAC to archive music and recordings you may want to convert again later.

M4A and FLAC compared
Property M4A FLAC
Compression Lossy Lossless
Typical quality 128–256 kbps AAC lossless, 16 or 24-bit
Support Opens almost everywhere Opens almost everywhere
Best for Good-sounding audio at small sizes Archiving music and recordings without losing anything
Introduced 2003 2001

How to convert M4A to FLAC

  1. 01

    Add your M4A

    Drop your M4A file onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.

  2. 02

    Check the settings

    The output is already set to FLAC. Change the bitrate if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the FLAC

    Press convert and save the FLAC. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when M4A becomes FLAC

Bigger, not better

FLAC can’t restore what M4A compression removed. It does make editing easier and stops further loss, which is why editors and some broadcast systems ask for it.

Expect a much larger file

FLAC is far bigger for the same content. Choose it because something needs FLAC, not to send or store the file. M4A: About 1 MB a minute at 128 kbps. FLAC: About 5–7 MB a minute for music.

This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of M4A and FLAC, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.

Why it doesn’t upload

Recordings are often private: interviews, voice notes, unreleased music. Your browser can decode and encode audio itself, so there is no reason to send it anywhere.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • About the M4A. An .m4a can also hold lossless ALAC audio, several times larger; the extension alone doesn’t tell you which.
  • About the FLAC. FLAC made from an MP3 is lossless only in name: it perfectly preserves an already lossy recording, at five times the size.
  • MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, Opus and FLAC are converted by your browser directly. WMA, AMR, APE, AC3 and the other specialist formats use the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Does converting M4A to FLAC lose quality?

No quality is lost converting to FLAC, though it can’t restore what the M4A already discarded.

Will an FLAC play in my car or on my phone?

FLAC opens almost everywhere: most modern players, Android and recent iPhones; some car stereos and older apps don’t.

Read more about this

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